Anonymous asked:

Hi! This is my first time asking a question, so I’m really hoping I don’t mess this up. If your 17 year old self were to see your current art, do you think you would have taken an art major? Thanks!

That's a very fun question! Thanks for asking!

The answer is... probably not?

Let me explain.

I didn't major in art - not because of pressure or lack of self confidence. (In fact, I think as a teen I had way too MUCH self confidence. I thought I was the shit. Top shelf.)

In a weird inversion of the trope of most artists disappointing their families, my family actually encouraged me to go to art school. My mother actively thought I should try it.

I refused back then, because I knew it was very difficult to get a career in art without being extremely hardworking and prolific. I knew how hard artists worked - other artists, that is. I didn't work hard. I just doodled. As a 17 year old, I never spent more than an hour on any drawing. I enjoyed art, but I didn't really work hard on it. It was a hobby.

I saw other artists spending 3+ hours on a realistic pencil drawing, making portfolios, doing color studies, going to special art high-schools, etc and knew that I did not do art that way. I knew I would always draw, no matter what I did, so I left my art on the side and decided to take a different major, which interested me way more academically.

~~which also ended up being pretty useless in terms of making money, but you know.~~

I think art school can be great, but it's by no means the only way to go into art.

Many people who are exceptional artists have never gone to art school! Others who did go to art school find that it kills their passion for art. A small subset benefit from it and learn a lot!

It's not for everyone. I don't think it was for me, especially when I was 17. Maybe now I would enjoy it, but back then...? Nah. I would have just exhausted myself and hated the rigidity.

It's fun to think about though!

#chekhov answers

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breadpastray-deactivated2022121 asked:

Hi sorry for not asking this on your main account I just couldn't find the ask option there but I need your advice on something, how can I make an ask blog without feeling pressured from too many asks? Last time I made an ask blog I ended up feeling too pressured to answer every question especially since I don't own this canon character and ended up deleting my ask blog. So I feel like trying again with another fandom but I fear I might do the same, any advices?

Hello!

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there isn't a specific type of way of making an askblog that will somehow soothe your anxieties about this stuff. At least not in a way that will last.

The good news is, it's something you CAN learn to deal with, and you can then apply it to other areas of your life and be a healthier person in general!

Strange as it may sound at first, feeling like you MUST answer asks, or feeling pressure to reply to everyone, can be a huge symptom of low self esteem. Why do you think this is your job? You're not getting paid for it. It's a volunteer venture! It's just play, in the playground of the internet. You only have so many hours in the day, and most of them are already accounted for. Rejection of some asks, or delaying them, is a natural part of this activity.

That's actually an important thing you have to accept, on both ends - rejection is a natural and normal part of ALL social interactions.

We cannot all be Yes-People.

If we just did whatever other people wanted us to do indiscriminately, that would be fine consuming and difficult and unhealthy. So you must accept that you won't be able to reply to everyone, even if you want to be polite. You must also accept that some people will ‘reject’ YOU for this - unfollow because you’re not posting enough, or because they don’t like your answers, and you must accept that this is also okay.

This happens in the real world all the time! We cannot all love each other all the time. I ignore literally hundreds of asks because I get so many I physically cannot reply to each one. And I KNOW that because of that, people unfollow me! They get disappointed, because I cannot deliver their ideal experience to them. They may even get offended by the way I answer an ask! I know my manner of speaking isn’t always palatable to everyone.

But that’s okay - because it’s not my job to fulfill that niche for them, and although I harbor no ill will towards anyone personally, I am also allowed to sometimes be human and reply in less-than-a-customer-service-voice. It’s not a failure on my part or their part - we are just not well suited to one another, and we’re allowed to go our separate way, having a ‘rejected’ interaction!

The harder part about this, is, of course, putting it into practice with your own blog. You must, each time, allow yourself to take a deep breath and say ‘I cannot answer all of those, and that’s okay.’ You can set yourself a goal for answering, say, 2 asks a day or something, and then, when you fulfill that goal, you can feel like you accomplished that. Or you can allow yourself to have days off.

The important part is treating yourself with the same expectation as you afford other people. If you followed another askblog that couldn’t reply to every ask, would you hold it against them? Or would you let them do what they could and move on? It’s important to allow yourself the same kindness you treat others with.

#chekhov answers

ask-whitepearl-and-steven

Anonymous asked:

Weapon anon again Will Steven in this have his own version of Rose's Sword? I doubt it, given Bismuth forged it in the show, and Rose is still alive in this, but I figured it was worth asking. Unless that's too spoiler-y to reveal?

It’s a good question! I suppose I haven’t considered it much at this point in time because when I was thinking of a weapon for Steven, the first thing I did was cross sword off the list. Literally it is the weapon that suits him least, in my opinion.

I get that swords are cool and we’re all used to seeing them in fantasy, but I could never picture Steven wielding a sword in-character, so it’s unlikely that I’ll include it in the comic.

#chekhov answers #Anonymous

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How to Ask Steven stuff.

~~Because apparently we need a tutorial.~~

Okay guys. I know I encourage you to send me asks and then somehow don’t reply to any of your lovingly-crafted little gifts of joy and 280 characters. I ask for questions for Steven and then never touch them when they arrive.

And so it stands to reason that we may need to explain WHY and HOW I choose the asks I answer.

It turns out I DON’T just answer every question willy nilly, and I DON’T just answer the ones who yell the loudest, beg the most, and send me the most asks. In fact, all those things just make it more likely to delete your message! (Sorry guys, but if you wrote ‘plz reply!!!!’ into any message you sent me, there’s a 99% chance I deleted it immediately.)

Anyway, to remedy this breakdown in communication, I’ve decided to do a quick writeup of how I select asks - and which asks I delete on sight and why.

Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list.

Let’s get right into it:

[Text: Reason #1: Future Vision. Ask reads: “Steven!! Listen to me! You’re not a full gem! You’re White Diamond’s don! Pearl killed Pink! Rose Quartz isn’t who she says she is!!!” - REJECTED.]

Guilty of - trying to be a sapphire and using future vision to spoil plot points FOR THE CHARACTERS.

I will not reply to these asks. Full stop. The ONLY time I did was back in season 1 where someone told Steven he’s magical.

Reason: It takes away Steven’s ability to discover things on his own, and makes even less sense in the meta. WHY would a person sending him asks know more about it than he, himself does?

[Text: Reason #2: Choose Your Own Adventure Gaming. Ask reads: “Steven, you should go up to the lighthouse on top of the temple. Then knock on the door. Then talk to Ronaldo. Then ask him about Sneeple. Then...” - REJECTED]

Guilty of - trying to control Steven like a character in a videogame or an RPG.

These asks get a delete 90% of the time because 90% of the time they don’t move the story forward. They’re just the asker trying to grab control of the story to move it in the direction THEY personally want it to go. The solution here is to make your own story.

Even asks that have one thing are on thin ice. If you sent me a message that starts with ‘Steven, you should ___’ then there’s a 50% chance it will not be answered.

Reason: It says ‘ASK’, not ‘TELL’ and not ‘ORDER’.

[Text: Reason #3: Sex/Violence. Ask is censored with a mosaic. REJECTED. ]

Guilty of: Not reading the room.

We get it. You’re edgy. You Grew Up. You know about Big Adult Stuff. It’s Exciting for you because it’s new and makes you realize for the first time that you’re a bag of meat. You’re trying to wipe the feeling off by inflicting it on other people and hope it makes them feel the same way because you can’t handle thoughts going through it alone. The idea of thinking something and NOT immediately sharing it is alien to you. You have no self control.

Reason: There’s a time and place for everything. This is not that time, and not that place.

[Text: Reason #4: Too Soon. Ask: “Hey Steven, I just wanted to ask about how Earl feels about Rose now that she knows Rose shattered Pink Diamond!” ON HOLD.]

Guilty of: Jumping the gun and asking about a plot turn that has not yet taken place in the comic.

These asks are actually fine! :)

But I am unlikely to answer them anytime soon. The most likely outcome is that I save them to my Big Ol’ Pile of Asks and answer them... someday. When they finally become applicable.

[Text: Reason #5: Misc. Ask 1: “Hey can you draw me my OC he has spiky hair and anime eyes and big boots and his...” Ask 2: “can steven skateboard? also i love your work :)” Ask 3: “When is the next comic coming oooout? Last week you posted 36 panels and this week you ONLY posted 34!!! >:( Why are you so lazy?!”]

I think most of these are a little self-explanitory.

I will generally delete asks that:

- beg for artwork, especially for free

- ignore the FAQ

- ask ME questions instead of asking Steven, or combine them (sorry guys... I wanna answer, but if I can’t tell which one of us you’re talking to, I can’t use the ask!)

- Demand that I work MORE or that I’m somehow not satisfying your intense need for free-to-read content at the desired pace, because the world is your oyster and you NEED. THAT. PONY!!!!

... I want to mention one LAST reason that I may be ‘ignoring’ your ask.

And that is to say, I’m not ignoring you at aLL and instead I’m just holding the ask quietly and sobbing because you’ve absolutely made my day with your kind words and I can’t find it in me to release the ask into the wild.

(I love you all, I promise I read your ask!! I’m just very bad at answering! I’m so sorry!!!!)

And just to finish off, to put your minds to rest I will also say this:

I WILL NEVER DELETE ASKS FOR ONLY THIS REASON:

- Your English isn’t “good enough”

I am an immigrant. I also had to learn English. Trust me, a few mistakes here and there are FINE! Don’t worry about spelling or grammar! If I understand you, we’re good.

Thank you for reading! I hope this was somewhat helpful.

Okay but seriously, PLEASE read the FAQ.

#faq #asks #ask #how to ask #ask steven

ask-whitepearl-and-steven

Alright alright alright

You’ve all been asking for it, so here it is!

This will be (edit: HELLA) long and obviously spoiler-y, so everything is under a cut.

Are you ready?

#steven universe future #steven universe: future #steven universe future spoilers #su:f spoilers #suf spoilers #su spoilers #steven universe spoilers #spoiler warning #pink pearl #volleyball

ask-whitepearl-and-steven

g-a-d-studio-deactivated2019053 asked:

I don't know if you been asked or not but it would your version of Steven is asking incredible important and non important question than regular pink Steven did you do that on purpose?

That’s a good question, but I’m not sure if I can answer it specifically.

It’s not like I went into this AU thinking “I’m gonna create a Steven who will finally question everything”. It wasn’t actually my goal.

It just so happened that White Diamond!Steven has more reasons to ask questions than Canon!Steven does. White Steven is completely new to ALL of this gem stuff, so his not knowing a bunch is expected. He needs to know background details in order to settle into his role as a Crystal Gem, so I have a good backstory reason for making him go around and ask stuff like “Amethyst, how the hell DOES your room work?”

Whereas Canon!Steven, who has been exposed to gem stuff all his life has no more reason to question Amethyst’s room than he does to question how microwaves work. Both things have been present for most of his life, and he just accepts them at face value.

A Tangent:

I see a lot of people criticizing Steven for not wanting to know more about the Diamonds. And yeah, for us viewers who are watching all this unfold, giant ladies on the walls of the moon base clearly hold some significance. But to Canon!Steven, who has seen Garnet break his phone because he took a photo of some magical artifact, who has seen giant statues in the Lunar Spire, who has been to 1001 magical places with goshdang magical ladies painted all over it over a million times - why SHOULD he pick this moment to interrogate the gems about their history?

In fact, a part of writing a series - especially a long series - is knowing how to pace the expositions. I don’t think that SU does a bad job of this at all, actually.

If we found out the answer to everything in the first season because Steven asked ALL the questions it just... wouldn’t be the same. I ENJOY waiting for info. Yes, sometimes Steven’s incredible superpower of Staying In His Damn Lane really frustrates me, but when everything is said and done, I think having him NOT be nosey is not only easily explained, it is NECESSARY to build up the worldbuilding BEFORE you reveal some big information.

And in a way, I’m actually doing it as well. There’s things White!Steven could be asking which he’s NOT asking because I want to get to explain thing A and thing B before I reveal thing C, so that thing C has deeper significance.

But anyway.

#ooc #g-a-d-marrkkon